- Peculiarities of the growth of palm trees
- A palm tree between bonsai plants
- And what about the holly?
The "tree in a pot", which is what the Japanese term bonsai means, is an extremely attractive room decoration that is finding more and more fans. The art is to keep the plants small by expertly cutting the roots, leaves and branches and they to still look like full-grown specimens in the wild.But does this also work with palm trees, which shouldn't actually be pruned?
Although palm trees cannot be raised as bonsai, there are very small palm trees on the market that only grow slowly
Peculiarities of the growth of palm trees
The common bonsai plants such as oak, pine or beech show a secondary growth in thickness. This means that they initially aim high, with the trunk constantly growing in strength. They permanently form wood in all areas on the inside and living tissue mass on the outside. As a result, these plants cope relatively well with pruning and can be trained into the desired shape.
The special characteristics of the palm trees
Palm trees, however, show a primary increase in thickness. The stem lacks the kabium ring, the growth layer. As a result, palm trees do not have a real tree trunk, but initially only grow in width and develop their final diameter at a young age. The trunk is also unbranched and is only given additional stability by the woody, dead leaf bases.
This results in the fact that the growth of palm trees can hardly be influenced by pruning measures. Their special growth also explains why they do not like pruning at all.
A palm tree between bonsai plants
Nevertheless, lovers of small trees do not have to do without palm trees. Choose:
- a very small palm tree
- an extremely slow growing species.
Over the years, this palm tree will also develop into a magnificent houseplant if you take good care of it. But is this so bad? It then creates an extremely attractive contrast to the bonsai plants.
And what about the holly?
The Ilex aquifolium, the "holly", which is often offered in bonsai shops, is not a true palm tree. Like all shrubs, it exhibits secondary thickening and is therefore easy to raise as a bonsai.
tips
In the German language, numerous plants are referred to as palm trees, which are ultimately not real palm trees. This includes the yucca, an asparagus plant found in many living rooms. It tolerates pruning very well and can be cultivated as a bonsai with a little skill and expertise.